During a recent doctors exam my doc hit my knees with the little rubber hammer and I jumped out of my skin, like I usually do. My doc mumbled "hmmmmm..hyperreflexia". Anyone else experience this? I do startle very easily, which is related I imagine.

i jump too, very sensitive to the ole hammer to the knee. Even if its a light tap i jump. i know i startle easy, your right this could be a part of the jumping. i wonder if the doc would jump if he had this done. Oh just a little joking here, got to have a bit of sense of humor into our days.

in most cases of hyper reflexia it is actually stemming from some level of spinal invlovement or direct spinal cord affectation. but this would usually show up on the most affected side and not both knees? but if there is something that is actually impacting you systemically it could happen. if something is impacting your motor functions or a sympatheic nervous system issue, that can also impact our reflexes. i never had HR til after my spinal cord was damaged in 2003. now, mostly my L knee is extremely hyper to the little hammer hits, the L one just "shoots" out while the R one is more normal with the little bounce out? but i have also noticed like all my 'senses' are somewhat more reactive, even my hearing? and i do also have sympathetic nervous system damage as well from the same damage inside my cord. my startle reflexes too are kind of off the charts as well.

if there is any involvement/impact of the spinal cords upper motor neurons, it would most definitely show as hyper reflexic. this will also create the spasticity that you see in most spinal cord injured patients with only a hemi cord(part of) injury? vs the complete paralyzation that comes with a complete SCI.

it would be worth your time and effort to try and find the main cause of your HR. its just not really a 'normal' thing to 'just have"? it can usually be tracked back to some specific reason or impact.

while i know we have crossed paths before on the boards at times WR, i cannot remember what your actual medical issues are? FB

Your explanation was fantastic, thank you. I read up on it a little, and I was surprised at how signifigent it was, since I have not had a spinal injury. I have had four strokes though, and I believe brain trauma was also listed a possible cause. I also developed RLS following the strokes, and my startle reflex is always on high alert. Any sudden noise, or movement makes me jump, and I avoid them if I can. I will be sure to ask my cardiologist more about it at my next appointment.

yep, a brain injury in certain areas CAN also cause this too. it all depends upon just where in the brain the actual damage is located. it is also a severe trauma to the CNS which is all interconnected from that brain down that spinal cord thru the actual many spinal 'tracts'? hopefully you can actually pinpoint the area of the this. so sorry for all you have been thru there WL. FB

Other than kicking the doctor everytime they come at me with the little rubber hammer..does hyperreflexia itself do harm? Or, is it more of an side effect?

I know every time it happens it feels like every nerve ending in my entire body is zapped at once. My son used to get a kick out of startling me, just to see me jump. That came to a quick end, because it felt as if I could easily have another heart attack from it,besides, it couldn't be good for my blood pressure. He could simply yell out a word, (like "possum"!) and I would shreak and jump.

I never imagined it didn't happen to just anyone...I thought I was just extra sensitive that way.